What has happened to the promised TUC-coordinated campaign of united action to defend the NHS against cuts and privatisation?

Union activists and campaigners, who had been continually pressing the need for national and union-led activity to give a boost to valiant local campaign efforts, were delighted to be assured back in July that the TUC had successfully strong-armed all of the main health unions, plus a number of professional bodies, and even the Royal College of Nursing and the doctors’ “union” the British Medical Association to join forces in a common effort.

This was some achievement, given the reluctance of some unions – most notably UNISON, which has been loath to ditch its disastrously unsuccessful policy of cosying up to New Labour ministers in the hopes of persuading them to see sense – to raise the heat on ministers as NHS services have faced a succession of cash crises, job cuts, redundancies, service cuts and privatisation.

But with NHS job losses now topping the 20,000 mark and more to come in an autumn of cuts and closures, and with every UNISON discussion echoing the anger of members at the passivity of their national union, even Dave Prentis could not put off some form of response. The long-delayed strike ballot to fight the privatisation of NHS Logistics was given the go-ahead, and UNISON agreed to join the TUC-led campaign.

But since then it has all gone horribly quiet.

At first we were told that there would be a day of action, followed by a Lobby of Parliament in October, regional days of action in November-December, and a national demonstration in the New Year. Pretty ambitious: but no dates were named, and no details given.

We were told that this was because of the complexity of negotiating a common line among the dozen or so organisations involved.

However it seems that the day of action has already been discarded. But more worryingly, more than a month further down the road we still have no details of the Lobby, regional events or national demo.

We might have hoped that the campaign would already be geared up, with publicity and information bursting out from every union’s website. But as we go to press, not one of the leading unions even mentions the joint campaign.

Time is already counting down to any event in October. It would be a real disaster if the unions which agreed to mount the campaign effectively undermine it through sheer incompetence and delay.

There is evidence aplenty of potential support for the TUC campaign. Even in mid August campaigners in Cornwall mobilised a march of almost 30,000 against a hospital closure, the second major demonstration in the West country in a couple of months. A national campaign would give millions the chance to identify with this crucial challenge to Blair’s neoliberal onslaught on our most popular public service.

Trade unions and Keep Our NHS Public campaigners have already been working together to plan autumn demonstrations in a number of towns and cities, including Oxford and Wakefield.

But no amount of local energy can equal the boost that would be given by the launch of the joint national campaign by the health unions, with coordinated publicity and a real sense of common purpose.

Many Labour MPs are only now coming to grips with the political unpopularity of Blair’s privatising “reforms”. It is vital to step up the pressure across the country if we are to force a change of line before irreparable damage is done to our NHS.